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Netgate Releases pfSense Plus Software Version 23.09.1 and pfSense CE Software Version 2.7.2

Written by: Bill Rathbone

Date: December 07, 2023

Netgate Releases pfSense Plus Software Version 23.09.1 and pfSense CE Software Version 2.7.2

Netgate® announces the release of pfSense® Plus software version 23.09.1 and pfSense® CE software version 2.7.2. These upgrades address potential ZFS file system corruption issues as well as other security bugs and issues.

Overview of Changes

These releases have changes related to three ZFS file system issues, two of which could lead to data corruption. The first is related to block cloning, a ZFS feature that is not currently enabled in pfSense software. The second, as detailed in this FreeBSD Errata Notice, is related to reporting holes in sparse files, which is difficult to trigger given typical usage on a system loaded with pfSense software. However, given other data corruption problems reported in the same area in the past, we have included a change to address the issue. This fix may result in a small increase in storage space used. These releases also correct a third ZFS issue that can cause high CPU usage. Details for this issue are available in this FreeBSD Errata Notice.

In addition to these fixes for ZFS, these releases also:

  • Address a security advisory for a potential TCP denial of service (DoS) attack from spoofed RST packets (FreeBSD-SA-23:17.pf).
  • Update OpenVPN to version 2.6.8. Details on this release of OpenVPN are available in these release notes.
  • Update strongSwan to address a potential buffer overflow issue (CVE-2023-41913).
  • Fix bugs in the fallback implementation of AES-GCM.
  • Addressed a number of other bugs and issues which are listed in the Release Notes.

Detailed Release Notes are available for pfSense Plus version 23.09.1 and pfSense CE version 2.7.2.

Installing the Upgrade

Netgate has a detailed Upgrade Guide available in the pfSense documentation to help explain the process. Below are the high-level steps to perform the upgrade.

Upgrades from an earlier version of pfSense Plus software or pfSense CE software are usually made through the web user interface. It’s always recommended to save a backup of the pfSense configuration prior to any major change such as an upgrade. You can find Backup and Recovery instructions in the pfSense Documentation.

Upgrading pfSense Plus software

  • Navigate to System > Update
  • Set Branch to “Latest Stable Version (23.09.1)”
  • Click Confirm to start the upgrade process

Upgrading pfSense CE software

  • Navigate to System > Update
  • Set Branch to “Latest Stable Version (2.7.2)”
  • Click Confirm to start the upgrade process

These pfSense software releases have been tested and are ready for use. Should any issues arise, please post to our Forum, or (for pfSense Plus software) please contact Netgate Technical Assistance Center (TAC) for paid support.

Supporting the Project

When you purchase Netgate hardware, TAC, or AWS/Azure cloud instances, you directly sustain the engineering teams responsible for maintaining high quality pfSense software.

Our efforts are made possible by the support of our customers and the community, and for that we express our sincere gratitude and appreciation.